My Muse, My Inspiration, My Partner
by live2rite
Summary: It's time for the book launch of Rick Castle's new Nikki Heat book 'Naked Heat' ... what could possibly happen if Kate goes, right? Caskett.
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Hey guys, here's chapter one of my new story (which is mostly written so I shouldn't be as bad at updating lol). This is very short but I promise the next chapter is much longer.

Disclaimer – Nope not mine.

From Rite Rose Publishing.

My Muse, My Inspiration, My Partner

Chapter One – The Morning After

When Kate Becket had been a child, waking up had always been a really slow process. Her Mom used to joke that she could sleep through anything and then she grew up and her responsibilities started to weigh on her. This usually meant she was lucky to get six uninterrupted hours of sleep per night and she was always up early, wide awake from a dead sleep and ready to take on the world. This morning, however, something was different. Kate felt completely relaxed and comfortable as she started to wake up as she had when she was small, slowly and calmly. She was about to take advantage of this rare morning by drifting back off to sleep when her eyes snapped open and the world came rushing back into focus. Someone was lying behind her, spooning her with a large hand pressed to her stomach gently holding her in place. She froze as she looked around the room and realised it wasn't her bedroom but as she did this she remembered where she was. This didn't help her relax again, on the contrary, it caused her to panic.

She had slept with Rick Castle ...

A.N. I will update before the next 24 hours are up so please review if you want to know what happened but don't worry you'll find out anyways ;)


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Ok so first off thank you all so much for the reviews, they made me write another 1000 words within half an hour lol but it mostly it made me decide to post this chapter this evening rather than tomorrow afternoon like I had planned so enjoy :)

Chapter Two – The Break Up and the Daughter.

It was the book launch party for Naked Heat the evening before and Kate had gone, protesting all the way but Lanie had told her she couldn't not go to a party for a book based on her because the guy she was in love with was back with his ex-wife. To which Kate had adamantly denied being in love with Castle or that Nikki Heat was based on her. Lanie had just rolled her eyes and pushed her towards her bedroom to get ready. She pulled out one of the dresses she had bought for such occasions, frowning at the thought she had gone out and actually thought she would need dresses for fancy book parties but shrugged it off as she headed for a shower. She hadn't actually seen Castle for the past two days. No new cases had come up and she had been using the time to catch up on paperwork and Castle had been busy getting ready for the book party. She had gratefully taken the time to be away from him and not have him constantly be there.

She was ready quickly and walked into her living room where Lanie was waiting. The M.E. looked up from the magazine she had been reading and looked over her friends outfit before smiling and standing up.

"That's better girl," Lanie smiled, "Now let's get going, I'm missing valuable prowling time." Kate rolled her eyes at her friend's comment but didn't protest as her handbag was pushed into her hands and Lanie shooed her out of the door, locking up for her. The party was similar to the 'Heat Wave' party and she could see the thong of photographers at the entrance, some stood looking around for the next big name and other half-heartedly taking pictures of the people already there. She steeled herself. She hated this part.

"Hey! There's Nikki Heat!" came the shout she knew was coming along with the inevitable rush in sound and light of people rushing to take pictures. She plastered a smile on her face and made her way inside as quickly as she could without actually running. A few minutes later she had been safely inside and Lanie had left her to her own devices as she had gone to talk to Esposito.

"You look as beautiful as ever Detective," came the familiar voice of Richard Castle from behind her. She pushed down the smile that was threatening to take over her face and settled on a look of vague annoyance as she turned to greet him.

"Castle," she nodded and looked around as she noticed she was alone with him, "Where's Alexis and Martha?" she asked and there was a slight pause before she quickly added, "And Gina," to the end of the list. "Did they abandon you?" she smirked. Castle smiled widely at her.

"Alexis is with her boyfriend, Mother is talking to her new male lead and Gina is around here somewhere, although I imagine she would rather be just about anywhere else tonight." He informed her.

"Oh?" Kate asked, hating that she sounded so interested.

"Yeah, we broke up ... again," Castle smirked.

"Not heartbroken then?" Kate asked, trying not to smile at the news.

"Well considering the reason we broke up is because she wanted me to buy her some jewellery for tonight and I said no, I think heartbroken is out of the window, don't you Detective?" he asked and had a drink of his glass of half empty champagne.

Kate's jaw dropped. "She wanted you to buy her jewellery ... and you broke up over that?"

Castle looked at her a little sheepishly. "Ok so she wanted a specific _type_ of jewellery if you get what I mean but I really don't want to repeat the same mistake twice." There was a pause as Kate thought about that.

"Then why were you back together at all?" she asked.

"That's what she said and I honestly couldn't answer ergo we broke up."

Before Kate could discuss this further with him, Paula appeared as if from nowhere and pulled him away to talk to some special guests. So with a quick wave and smile from both of them, he handed her his now almost empty glass and they disappeared into the crowd leaving Kate alone to her thoughts. She quickly finished Castle's glass of champagne and snagged another from a passing waiter before she was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug.

"Detective Beckett! I'm so glad you came!" said the excited voice of Alexis Castle. Kate couldn't help but smile as she returned the hug.

"Hi Alexis, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kate?" she teasingly asked. Alexis blushed, she knew why she insisted on calling Kate Detective Beckett but she couldn't very well come out and say 'Geez Detective, I know how much my Dad loves you and if I were to start calling you Kate I'd feel closer to you so when you do leave I'd be more upset' now could she?

Instead Alexis settled on mumbling, "It's respectful."

"So your Dad told me about him and Gina," Kate started, "Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," Alexis nodded, "I don't understand why they got back together to be honest but it seemed like Dad was happy for a while and Gina wasn't so bad, a little shallow maybe but she genuinely has a good heart."

"How's your Dad dealing with it, he just told me in his usual devil may care attitude ..." Kate said as she looked over the crowd to where Castle was stood chatting to a much shorter and very balding older man. Alexis smiled as she followed her gaze to her Dad.

"Honestly I think he's happy to be on the market again," Alexis told her, fighting the urge lock her Dad in a closet with Detective Beckett and force them to face their feelings. "I think he's been wanting to date someone else for a while now," she conspiratorially stage whispered to Kate but before Kate could turn to Alexis and question this, Alexis quickly hugged her again and happily announced her friend had just arrived before happily running over to the girl who had just walked through the gauntlet of reporters.

A.N. Also I should just add that I originally started to write this before I saw the ep with Kate's new surgeon boyfriend so he doesn't exist in this story :) please review again cos you never know how fast I'll update then ;)


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. I'm afraid this is another short-ish chapter although not as short as chapter one :)

Chapter Three – Lanie Says ...

Making light work of her first glass of Champagne, she walked over to the bar and asked for another before walking over to where Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and Jenny were all happily chatting. She sat down heavily in the booth next to Lanie.

"Hi guys," she half smiled before having another sip of champagne.

"Everything ok girl?" Lanie asked, tearing her attention away from Esposito for the first time that night.

"Yeah, it's just a weird night," she smiled.

"Weird as in writer boy is back on the market again?" Jenny asked with a bright smile. Kate's head spun to face Jenny so fast she could have had whiplash.

"How did you ..." she began before they all started laughing.

"Beckett, we _are _Detectives too ya know?" Ryan laughed as he threw his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Yeah it's painfully obvious from the look on your face when you were talking to him and the current look the said ex wife has on her face." Esposito added nodded to a spot across the room. Kate looked in that direction just fast enough to catch the look of deep jealousy that was on Gina's face as she looked over at their table before she quickly turned to talk with the woman next to her. Kate frowned as she turned back to face her friends.

"Why is she looking at me like that?" she asked, to which all three of them scoffed at her in union.

"Don't make me smack you!" Lanie exclaimed as Esposito nodded in agreement.

"Come on Beckett, he loves you and she's jealous, it's as simple as that." Esposito told her. Kate's jaw dropped, it was very rare that they all were this honest with her. Sure they all hinted at the feeling between her and Castle all the time, Lanie being the only one to go as far as pointing out that she loved him but other than the time Esposito had made her think about why he was still shadowing her, neither he nor Ryan had ever come right out and told her about how _he _loved _her _before. And as she sat there she realised it was the truth, all those times that he had been there for her and all the things he had done for her. She looked up towards Castle and as she did he looked over at her and his face broke out into a wide smile as he gave her a quick wave before turning back to Paula with whom he was now talking to. He loves her, she thought to herself her eyes still glued to him as he talked animatedly with Paula. Her heart fluttered as she thought this and her eyes widened and she turned to stare, panicked, at Lanie who just patted her on the shoulder.

"I know you love him too girl, why are you still sat here?"

"I ... I ... I ..." Kate stuttered as she tried in vain to talk to Lanie. She looked desperately at Ryan, Esposito and Jenny before looking back at Lanie, "I don't know what to do ..." she admitted.

"Well personally I'd walk over to that fine specimen of man and kiss him 'til you both see stars but maybe you should just _tell him!_" Lanie told her.

Kate looked back at Castle, trying to get the courage to walk over to him but failed miserably, "I can't," she said, "He's busy, it's an important night."

"Girl you think Castle wouldn't kick us all out of here if he had the slightest idea that you wanted to tell him you were crazy for him?" Lanie asked. Kate shrugged at this and Lanie finally had enough. She pushed Kate out of the booth, making Kate set down her untouched second glass of champagne and when they were both stood she linked her arm tightly through her friends. "I'll be back in a minute." Lanie threw over her shoulder to Esposito, Ryan and Jenny as she started to frog march Kate over to where Castle was.

A.N. I should be able to update again tonight assuming I can get on my mobile internet again lol :) please review guys


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. So it's midnight here in the UK and I have decided now is the time to update. I gotta say after the first chapters response I'm a little disappointed in the reviews but there are a few people who have reviewed most chapters and Beckett NYPD who has reviewed every single one :) thanks mate!

Chapter Four – The Balcony

They had moved to the balcony area but he was still talking to Paula. They both caught the laughs coming from their table and then the ending of the conversation between Paula and Castle as they exited the main room and opened the balcony door to approach them.

"... don't know why you're so worried, she didn't care you broke up for the last four books you published and even though this 'love letter' is far less subtle than the first until last night you didn't have a problem and she saw the final draft including dedication weeks ago," Paula said, "Why do you think you'll be better with a new publicist now?" she asked, not seeing that Kate and Lanie were mere feet away. "The only available good publicist is Hank Peters and I distinctly remember you telling me you prefer gals over guys."

Lanie arched her eyebrow at this and looked questioningly at Kate who rolled her eyes at such a typical Castle request.

"Look Paula, I don't care who my publicist is, if Gina says she can deal then that's great because she's one of the best publicists that there is but if she doesn't think she can promote the Nikki Heat character then I'm gonna need a new publicist." He told Paula.

"Why wouldn't she be able to promote Nikki Heat, she never had a problem with Derrick Storm?" Paula asked. Kate felt herself anxiously awaiting Castle's response to this. He paused before answering.

"Let's just say she's ... jealous of Nikki," Castle sighed heavily.

"The one on paper or the one you're NOT sleeping with?" Paula asked, sarcastically stressing the word 'not'. Before Castle could respond he happened to glance in Lanie and Kate's direction and realised they were close enough to hear everything they were saying. He hastily turned to face them fully and grinned.

"Beckett, Dr Parish," he greeted smoothly, "Have you met Paula?" he asked, gesturing towards her. They both shook their heads and smiled politely as he introduced them.

"Pleasure to meet you at last Detective Beckett, I've heard nothing but good things from Ricky here." Paula smiled as she took in the distracted way the woman was looking at Castle and seemed to be anchored to the spot by her friend's linked arm.

"I'm sure he's exaggerated everything knowing his talent for embellishment," Kate smiled back politely.

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed, "So you admit I have a talent!" he grinned, "Thank you Detective, I never knew you cared so much." He placed his hand over his heart as he said this and watched as she rolled her eyes.

"Dream on Castle, a talent for embellishment is nothing to be proud of."

"Oh really?" he grinned as he stepped closer to her, "You seemed to think the embellishment of page 105 of Heat Wave was good enough," he goaded. At this Kate let go of Lanie's arm and stepped closer to Castle, pushing her finger into his chest to highlight the next point.

"I _so _was NOT looking for page 105 that day!" Kate exclaimed, "And whilst we're on this point, since when has it been ok to look over the top of a toilet stall!" she asked, heatedly. Castle just smirked at this.

"I saw the book in your bag Detective, all day you were trying to torment me and there it was," he smirked, "Your date was with my book wasn't it?" he asked, leaning forward slightly to catch the slight blush that heated her cheeks, "AH HA! I knew it!"

"Oh please, when I got home I did read the book but that's hardly what you'd call a date." She mocked.

"I don't know," he mused, "I have a pretty broad definition of the word ..."

Neither the Detective who was trained to notice the small details nor the novelist who naturally noticed the small details noticed Lanie gesture to Paula that they should leave the two to their argument and at this point Beckett turned to tell Lanie that they were going back to their table when she realised they were gone. She took a deep breath and realised she was now alone with Richard Castle and as she looked back at him she realised just how close they were and her breath caught in her throat. She looked up and realised he was looking down at her lips, staring would probably have been a better word. Before she knew what was happening she felt his lips softly touching hers and everything froze for a split second before she gathered herself and kissed him back, just as softly. As they pulled away from each other, Castle seemed to realise what he had just done, getting a deer caught in headlights look in his eyes.

"Oh Kate, I'm sorry," he started, "I know what you said and I just ... I ..." he stopped babbling and grasped her hand as he realised something, "You kissed me back?" he asked in wonder. Here was the moment, she could either tell him to forget it ever happened or she could be honest with herself and him. She took a deep breath.

"Castle, I wanted to tell you before the summer but ... well ..." she started.

"Gina happened." Rick finished with a slight grimace, "I'm so sorry Kate, I had no idea."

"I know you didn't," she squeezed his hand, "I hadn't given you any encouragement and the truth is I think I was in denial about how I feel about you. Don't get me wrong, you infuriate me so much sometimes that I just want to tell you to get lost but then most of the time you're just being you and that's what I love about you." She half whispered but before she could continue with her confession Castle was kissing her again, this time with more passion. Her arms wound their way around his neck pulling him closer and his arms were wrapped around her middle. After a few minutes, Castle pulled away far enough to rest his forehead against hers and smiled.

"I love you," he whispered to her, "I have since the first time you told me about your Mom, the first time I got to see more about you than just Detective Kate Beckett, the perfect cop, although she's pretty great too," he winked, "But most of all I love Kate the woman."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a way with words?" Kate laughed softly, moving his hands to place them on his chest where she played with the lapels on his tux.

"Once or twice." He replied and he pulled her into a tight hug. They happily stayed like that for a few minutes until Kate reluctantly pulled away.

"There's a party going on in there for you," she reminded him as she noticed the small smudged of lipstick that had smeared on cheek. She lifted her hand and rubbed it away before kissing him softly once more, "We should continue this discussion later."

"I don't want to wait until tomorrow when you've had the chance to talk yourself out of wanting to try a relationship with me." He told her, firmly keeping his arms around her waist.

"Who says it'll take that long?" she smirked but Castle looked at her seriously and she sighed, "Ok, I'll meet you at your apartment later." She promised and grinned at the way his eyes lit up.

"Do you still have your key?" he asked and smiled as she nodded. "We shouldn't leave here any later than 1am because of Alexis, she doesn't have school tomorrow but I try to avoid the 5am finishes these days."

"Ok," she agreed and as they moved apart, he took her hand as they walked back to the main room, "Oh and Castle?" she stopped walking and turned to face him, "Not a word of this until we've discussed it properly."

"I give you my word." Castle said solemnly and raised her hand to kiss the back of it, "Until later Kate." He smiled softly and opened the door allowing her to enter the room first.

A.N. We're only half way through guys :) please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. Ok just when I think people are losing interest in the story you guys go and basically fill my inbox with lots of lovely reviews :) thanks guys you all rock! I hope you like this chapter and the dedication, the dedication was the original idea behind this story and then it sort of snowballed and I keep having to add bits so what was almost finished when I started to post this now has an additional 3000 words plus with more on the way! :)

Chapter Five – The Dedication

Kate walked straight over to where Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and Jenny were sat, straining and failing to see anything they could.

"So girl, that looked like it went well." Lanie said, obviously trying to get more details. Kate kept her poker face on as she sat down and stole a sip of Lanie's drink.

"He was ... Castle." She murmured. She saw Lanie, Jenny and the boys exchange worried glances and hid her smirk in the glass. When she had control of the smirk she looked around the room and noticed that Castle was talking to Alexis with a smile on his face and gesturing wildly. Alexis started laughing uncontrollably and a new wave of doubt washed over here. What about Alexis? Would she be ok with her dating her Dad? She and little Castle were close but would this affect that relationship too. Just as she was starting to panic, Alexis happened to notice Kate looking at them and she smiled happily at her before waving energetically. Kate couldn't help but return the smile along with the wave, although she waved a little less enthusiastically. At Alexis' wave, Castle turned to see who she was waving at and when his gaze landed on Kate, he sent her his own smile with a quick wink. To this Kate rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her table but not before she caught Castle's delighted laugh at such a Kate Beckett thing to do.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jenny asked, confused at the different signals the formidable Detective was sending.

"Castle isn't good at dealing with serious," Kate told her, thinking he was actually surprising great at it but left the out loud sentence trailing off leaving a much different meaning, "Can we talk about something else other than Castle?" she asked.

"Honey, we're at his book party," Lanie reminded her, "It's a little difficult to not talk about him or his book ..." here Lanie paused, "Have you seen the dedication in this one?" she asked.

Kate looked at her sharply, "No, why?"

Lanie didn't reply, instead she reached over to where there were three new 'Naked Heat' books arranged so one was resting on the top. She plucked the top book off the arrangement and handed it to Kate who looked at her curiously but opened the book looking for the dedication page. She had no idea why Lanie would want her to look at the dedication as the last book had been dedicated to her and the boys, why would this one be the same? As she found the page and she read the few words that were there, Kate Beckett was rendered truly speechless for the first time in her life.

'_To my muse, my inspiration, my partner._

_The summer was lifeless _

_and the fall was too slow to arrive.'_

She read the dedication several times before she allowed herself to look up at Lanie, who was smirking at her with that 'I told you so' look on her face, then Esposito, who just smiled calmly at her as if he knew it all along. Next she looked at Ryan who was looking at her as if she should have known and then Jenny who just looked amused at the whole situation. She looked back down at the dedication and raised her fingers to shakily touch the words. Her thoughts jumbled in her mind until she finally settled on that she needed to discuss this with Castle before she did or said anything else.

"I think I'm gonna head home," she told them as she stood up and closed the book, keeping it firmly in her hand.

Lanie's face fell, "But it's only just after 11:30!" she exclaimed.

"I know but I have to go see my Dad tomorrow and I said I'd be there early." This was a complete lie but she didn't want to have to stay there and answer anymore questions so she waved goodbye, ignoring the protests and turned to leave. As she did she saw that Castle and Alexis were both watching her so she walked over to them.

"Detective Beckett, are you leaving already?" Alexis asked, a little concerned.

"Yeah Lex," she told the young woman, a little distractedly, "I have somebody I need to talk to this evening."

Alexis grinned at the nickname Kate had given her and nodded before giving her a quick hug. "I'll see you soon?" she asked as the hug ended.

"Of course," Kate smiled at her and watched as she walked over to where Martha was stood talking with a young man whom she assumed was Alexis' boyfriend from the way she held his hand when she reached them. She turned back to face Castle.

"I can sign that for you if you'd like?" he asked, gesturing to the book that was still tightly held in her hand. Kate looked down at it and back up into his eyes before she replied.

"You can sign it later ..." she trailed off. Castle nodded, relief flooding through him as she realised that was Kate's way of saying they were still going to talk later.

"I look forward to it Detective Beckett." And with that he took her hand and kissed the back of it before Kate turned and walked towards the door.

A.N. ok so what did you guys think of the dedication? I hope you liked this chapter, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. Hey guys, here's the next chapter and it's the part you've all been waiting for :)

Chapter Six – Castle's Castle.

The moment the door opened and the reporters saw who it was, the noise exploded.

"It's Detective Beckett! Kate! Kate! Any comments about the dedication?" One reporter yelled, trying to get his microphone closer to her.

"What happened this summer?" another yelled.

"Can you tell us what's going on between you and Richard Castle?" a third called. What threw her most though, was that several fans were thrusting their copies of 'Naked Heat' at her begging her to sign them. Before she could make a decision about taking one of the offered Sharpies, one of the security guys at the event pulled her towards the curb, shielding her from the reporters questions and the man on the door quickly hailed a taxi for Kate. She sighed as the door was closed and as she was driven through the streets of New York, back to her apartment, her thoughts kept turning to Castle and what she would say when they talked later that night. She was so deep in thought she didn't realise she was at her apartment until the driver turned and told her how much. She apologised and paid before heading upstairs and into her apartment. She quickly changed into a more comfortable outfit which she settled on as a pair of jeans and slightly large t-shirt with a funny slogan on it from Stargate Atlantis. She didn't actually watch the show but Ryan and Esposito had got it her for her last Christmas present. Apparently it was a resident sarcastic genius who said it 'I'll give you clever, I'll even give you brilliant but there's brilliant and then there's me'. Then she grabbed her favourite leather jacket and her favourite boots before she looked at her watch. It was 12:30. She decided to head over to Castle's now and be there for when he got back. She quickly took note of how much she had drank that night and realised it was only a glass of champagne and a mouthful of Lanie's drink and they were over an hour ago so she knew she was ok to drive. For the short drive over to Castle's apartment she felt like a bundle of nerves. She kept looking over at the book on the passenger seat and wondering why he had written that as the dedication. She arrived at Castle's apartment and said hi to the doorman. His name was George and he was the night doorman and they had become friendly in the few weeks she had stayed her after her apartment had been blown up.

"Hey Detective Beckett, I think Mr Castle is still at his book party," he told her, smiling as she walked through the door.

"Hey George, yeah I've just seen him there, he asked me to meet him back here to discuss our new case." She fibbed slightly. George laughed.

"I swear that man thinks he really is a cop now," he smiled and Kate smiled back.

"Don't I know it!" She laughed and walked over to the elevator. "Talk to you later George."

When Kate stepped inside Castle's apartment, she sat down on the sofa and opened the book again to once more read the dedication before snapping the book shut and putting it on the table along with her phone and keys. It wasn't going to change, she chastised herself. She looked around the room and smiled at the picture's on the wall, mostly they were of Castle and Alexis with the odd one of Martha thrown in and her smile faded. Alexis and Martha! They would be coming back here with Castle! How could she have forgotten that? Just as she thought this she heard Martha's distinctive laughter from the hall and her fight or flight response quickly turned on heavily in favour of flight so she quickly ran to the stairs raced up them. Just as she reached the top of the stairs she heard the front door open and the Castle clan enter the apartment. She quietly opened Castle's bedroom door and stepped inside, closing the door to behind her and calming her breathing, she listened closely to the conversation she could just about hear.

"Well darling once again that was a fabulous party!" Martha told him happily as she heard the fridge door open and close.

"Why thank you mother," Castle replied jovially, "What about you pumpkin? Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah Dad it was great," Alexis replied and Kate could hear the smile in her voice, "Thanks for letting me invite Ash and Paige."

"No problem sweetie," there was a pause until Alexis spoke up again.

"So you and Detective Beckett disappeared for a while ..." she said, letting the comment fade off obviously hoping her Dad would pick it up. He didn't disappoint his daughter.

"We had some things to discuss." He told her and the next thing Kate heard was a loud snort of laughter.

"The day you two love birds actually discuss something without having swords drawn will be the day I'll be a very happy Mother!" she said, laughing. Kate flushed at this and suddenly realised it was wrong to be listening into a private family discussion even if the discussion was about her so she silently closed the door and walked over to the bed and sat down carefully as she drew her phone out of her pocket. She quickly sent a text to Castle saying, _'I'm upstairs in your room didn't think you'd want Alexis and Martha to know I'm here until we've talked'_ She waited and after a few seconds received a reply. _'A beautiful woman waiting for me in my bedroom? I won't be long ;)' _ Kate rolled her eyes at Castle's text but smiled because it was such a typical response from him. A few minutes later she heard Alexis and Martha's muffled conversation on the other side of the door as they walk past to their own rooms and then the door opened and Castle came in, flipping the lights on as he did. He smiled as he saw her but didn't say anything until he had closed the door. At which point he walked over to her and she stood up to meet him.

"Hi," he said quietly and gave her a quick kiss, "You changed?" he questioned, a little sulk appearing on his face.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Of course I changed," she told him, "That dress isn't exactly the most comfortable."

"But you look so great in it."

"I'll bear that in mind."

There was a moment's pause as he smiled at her and then he seemed to gather himself. He stepped away and pulled off his tux jacket and held his hand out to Kate with a questioning look on his face. She was confused for a split second before she realised that she still had her jacket on so she pulled it off and handed it to him. She could tell the second Castle noticed the quote on her t-shirt.

"Why Detective Beckett, I never figured you for a Stargate fan."

"I'm not really," she replied, "This was a gift from Esposito and Ryan ... they thought it was funny." She shrugged. Castle laughed softly as he hung both jackets up and undid his bow tie.

"You thirsty?" he asked as he walked over to a small cupboard next to his desk which turned out to be a built in fridge as he opened it.

"You have a fridge in here?" she asked.

"Yeah but it's just soda's and water, so what'll it be?"

"Water please." Castle picked two bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one to Kate before he sat down on the edge of the bed and gestured for Kate to do the same thing. As she sat down she opened her water and took a sip before turning to face Castle who was watching her closely.

"So ..." she started.

"We should talk," he said, "So here it is," he took a breath and kept his gaze on Kate, "I want to be in a relationship with you, I don't want to dance around how we feel anymore. You can set whatever ground rules you want and I will follow them but please give us a shot Kate?"

"I do want to try but my track record with relationships, not to mention yours, is hardly inspiring confidence that this will work, and then there's Alexis to think about." She told him, taking his free hand in hers as they talked.

"I know," Castle sighed, "She'd be thrilled if I told her we were together ..."

"And be crushed if it didn't work out ..." Kate finished. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you or Alexis."

"Me neither but I don't want to pretend that you're just my friend anymore, I think it's worth the risk to give our relationship a go. I don't care about what anybody else says, I don't care what ground rules you tell me to follow, I'll do it ... because I'm in love with you." He admitted squeezing her hand. Kate looked into his eyes and could see the sincerity shining back. She knew he really did love her and she really loved him. It was like someone suddenly inflated a bubble in her chest and a huge grin made its way across her face. She didn't respond verbally, instead she dropped her water bottle (thankful she had screwed the lid back on) before taking his face in both her hands and kissing him soundly. As Castle responded to the kiss, the angle they were at became uncomfortable so she quickly straddled Castle's legs and they both groaned as Castle pulled them closer together. Kate's fingers started unbuttoning his dress shirt and in a matter of seconds she had flung it across the room. Castle then pushed the t-shirt up over her head and that followed his shirt to lie in a heap on the floor. Kate pushed Castle to lie back on the bed and as she did, their kisses became less frenzied and more languid.

"Should I take that as a yes," Castle gasped a few minutes later as they broke apart, smiling up at Kate who was leaning over him with her hair framing her face.

"I love you too." She grinned down at him, capturing his lips once more and effectively ending their conversation for the night.

A.N. I hope you liked this :) please review :)


	7. Chapter 7

A.N. Ok so I'm updating a few hours earlier than normal today because my Mum has decided we're going to the town centre to support the troops for Remembrance Day, therefore I won't be here later lol. I'm sure you didn't really need to know that but there we go ;) I had a question about how long this story was, I'm guesstimating at about 12 – 15 chapters depending on how much more I write. Originally this story started with the dedication so you can see how much was added before that and I haven't quite finished writing it yet so not entirely sure where I'm gonna end it, but anyways here's the next chapter and yes I have literally put the first chapter at the start of this one lol!

Chapter Seven – In the Light of Day

When Kate Becket had been a child, waking up had always been a really slow process. Her Mom used to joke that she could sleep through anything and then she grew up and her responsibilities started to weigh on her. This usually meant she was lucky to get six uninterrupted hours of sleep per night and she was always up early, wide awake from a dead sleep and ready to take on the world. This morning, however, something was different. Kate felt completely relaxed and comfortable as she started to wake up as she had when she was small, slowly and calmly. She was about to take advantage of this rare morning by drifting back off to sleep when her eyes snapped open and the world came rushing back into focus. Someone was lying behind her, spooning her with a large hand pressed to her stomach gently holding her in place. She froze as she looked around the room and realised it wasn't her bedroom but as she did this she remembered where she was. This didn't help her relax again, on the contrary, it caused her to panic.

She had slept with Rick Castle ... then she remembered not only where she was but what had happened and her panic vanished to be replaced with the big bubble in her chest. She grinned and rolled gently over to look at Rick. He wasn't Castle in this situation, here he was just Rick. He moved unconsciously to allow Kate's change in position and then his hand rested on her hip pulling her back to him. His hair had fallen across his forehead so she reached up to brush it back and then rested her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat under her palm. She was so intently focussed on this that she didn't notice his eyelids flutter open and his bright blue eyes watching her fondly.

"Good morning," he said softly, causing Kate's gaze to snap up to meet his. They both smiled and Rick kissed her softly. "You know we never did get around to those ground rules." He rolled onto his back pulled her to rest half on top of him. There was silence as they lay there just enjoying being with each other until Kate finally spoke.

"Last night was ... incredible." She smiled against Rick's chest and he grinned too.

"It was ..." he said, "but ... I sense a but."

"I do love you and I do want to be with you ... however," she smiled as she lifted her head to look at him as she spoke, "I don't want to be known as Rick Castle's conquest ..." she started but Rick quickly interrupted.

"You're not a conquest!" he started to argue.

"Rick, please let me finish," she smiled, "I don't want to be known as a Rick Castle conquest so ..." she placed her finger against his lips to prevent any further protests, "for the time being can we try and keep it away from the press?" she asked. Rick paused before he answered.

"But that means no dates," he sulked.

"No it means no dates outside of our apartments ..." she drawled.

Rick grinned at this but still had to add, "One day you will change your mind." And then promptly kissed her.

"And no kissing, hand holding, insinuating or general couple-y things when I'm working." She told him firmly.

"Fun killer!" he grinned, showing her she was joking.

"Rick, promise me?" she asked seriously.

"I promise Kate."

They settled back down with Rick drawing small circles on her bare back. Kate couldn't believe how comfortable she was and before she knew it they were dozing off. It seemed like only two minutes later that there was a knock at the door and Alexis' voice coming from the other side.

"Dad?" she called, "Are you ok, it's like midday and your door is locked."

Kate sat up quickly and scrambled to get her clothes on with Rick looking on in amusement.

"Yeah Sweetie, just enjoying a lie in," he smirked as Kate shot him a death glare, "I'll be right down."

"Ok, I'm just putting a pot of coffee on ..." there was a pause, "Does Detective Beckett have sugar in hers?" she asked, amusement evident in her voice. Kate, who was trying to get her jeans on promptly fell over in surprise causing Rick to lean forward in silent laughter.

"No pumpkin just a lot of milk." He laughed.

"Ok, see you in a few minutes." And they both heard her walking back down the corridor and the stairs.

"How did she ..." Kate began to ask before the realisation dawned over her, "The book with my keys." She groaned. "I left them on your coffee table last night."

Rick nodded and stood up to get dressed himself, not noticing the appreciative look Kate gave him. "She's a smart cookie, even if it's just a proud Dad talking." He quickly pulled on some clothes and took Kate's hand as she waited by the door. "Come on Detective, my daughter will be a cake walk, it's Mother you have to worry about."

As they walked into the kitchen Alexis was just pouring three cups of coffee. She looked up and grinned at them both as she handed them their cups of coffee.

"Good morning you two," she greeted.

"Thanks Lex," Kate said as she accepted the coffee, "I think you really should be calling me Kate now." She grinned sheepishly at the little Castle who grinned back.

"I think I can do that now Kate."

Kate's cell rang and she took it out of her pocket looking apologetically at Castle and Alexis, "I'm just gonna go and take this, it's the precinct." Kate told them before making her way over to the sofa and accepting the call. Alexis turned to her Dad and raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say "Well?"

"We talked and we're together now." He told her, he was tempted to play dumb but the squeal of joy that his daughter gave as she ran around the kitchen island to give him a tight hug was far better than teasing her.

"I'm so happy for you both!" she said happily.

"I'm ecstatic myself," he grinned as he watched Kate talking to someone on the phone. When Alexis released him he looked down at her, "So where's Mother this morning?" he asked.

"First, it's afternoon Dad," she corrected, reaching for her own cup of coffee, "Not all of us were entertaining last night." She smirked at the horrified look on her Dad's face.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" he exclaimed, "I don't need to have my little girl insinuating things like that!"

"Relax Dad," she laughed, "It's just fun to tease you."

"Not teasing if you give your old man a heart attack." He mumbled.

"And Grams left this morning for an audition, she's convinced this one will be her role!" Alexis finished with a dramatic flair that was undoubtedly copying his Mother.

There was a pause before he spoke again. "Did she realise Kate was here?" he asked.

"No, I only went into the living room after Grams had left about half an hour ago."

He nodded at this as Kate walked back over, finishing the last of her coffee.

"Sorry I hate to grab coffee and go but I have a case and I need to go home to change." She smiled apologetically at Rick and Alexis.

"What about the bag you keep in your car?" Rick asked.

"I used it a few days ago when _someone_ spilt coffee over me at the precinct remember Castle?" she looked pointedly at him causing him to look a little sheepish.

"Not my fault you walk into me," he mumbled.

"And I haven't had time to replace it yet."

"Ok," he conceded, "Can I meet you there?" he asked.

"Sure, but remember what you promised." She warned.

"I'll be on my best behaviour, scouts honour." He smiled.

"But you were ..." she started.

"Never a scout, I know, I know, sorry bad choice of words but I do promise."

Kate glanced at him, weighing his words and then smiled, "Ok, see you in a bit, the address is on your notepad over there," she turned to Alexis and pulled the young woman into a hug, "Bye Lex."

"Bye Kate, good luck!"

Kate turned and took all of one step towards the door before she felt herself being spun back around into Castle's waiting arms. "Castle! What are ..." she started.

"I believe you forgot something Detective." Rick said before leaning forward and kissing her softly. Her eyes fluttered shut and she returned the kiss enthusiastically until they heard a polite cough coming from Alexis. She pulled away and looked guiltily at Alexis.

"Sorry Alexis," she said before turning back to Rick and placing a quick peck on his lips, "See you at the crime scene Castle." She smiled before turning and leaving the Castle loft.

A.N. So what did you think of how Alexis figured it out? Please review :)


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. Hey guys :) thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter! I can't believe how great you guys are :) I hope you like this chapter as much.

Chapter Eight – Business as Usual?

When she reached the lobby, the day doorman, Callum, looked up in surprise. "Detective Beckett!" he exclaimed, before quickly walking out to greet her.

"Hey Callum, how are the kids?" she asked. Callum had four kids, all boys.

"They're great Detective Beckett." He smiled at her before his grin vanished. "I don't think you're going to want to go out of the front entrance."

"Why?" she asked confused.

"There's a whole slew of reporters out there and if they see you here now then I'd be willing to bet a year's salary on what the evening headlines would say ..." he trailed off.

Kate sighed, "Great," she looked back at Callum and gave him a tight smile, "Thanks for the warning, but I have a crime scene so I can't just hide out here until they lose interest, is there a back entrance you can sneak me out of?"

He nodded and had her follow him. They went through to the staff entrance of the building and Callum checked the door was clear before bidding Kate a goodbye. She quickly walked down the alley and saw the mass of reporters at the front entrance to Castle's building. She shook her head at how everyone seemed to want to know what was going on in Castle's personal life before walking over to her car and driving away, glad for the first time that she had been forced to park a short walk from Castle's building the night before due to lack of parking.

When she got back to her apartment she grabbed a quick shower and changed before filling up the small sports bag with another change of clothes for the back of her car and heading out. As she arrived at the crime scene she could already see Ryan and Esposito interviewing witnesses. She got out of her car and walked over to Ryan who pointed over to the alley where she could now see Lanie kneeling next to the body. She nodded and walked over to where the M.E. was now making notes on her clipboard.

"Hey Lanie, What do you got?" she asked.

"Twenty nine year old male, there's a driver's licence in his wallet, it looks like he was shot in the back of the neck, a nasty wound and that's all I got right now." She said without looking up.

Kate was about to ask how long ago he died when she felt someone step beside her, a little too close. She didn't have to look to know who it was but she looked anyway. He grinned at her and passed her a cup of Starbucks coffee.

"How long ago did he die?" Castle asked as Kate took her coffee. Lanie's head snapped up as she looked at Kate and Castle stood side by side. Kate could see the wheels turning in her head as the slow smile appeared on her face.

"I'd say between 23:30 and 00:30 last night, quite a coincidence those times, right Beckett?" her smirk widened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Lanie," Kate told her in a flat tone.

"Sure." Lanie replied in a tone that told both Kate and Castle she didn't believe a word.

"Let's go see what the boys have got." Kate told Castle, they both walked to the entrance of the alley when Kate stopped. Castle was walking so close that he almost walked right into her, "Castle!" she hissed as she turned to face him. "You promised."

"What?" he asked innocently, but when Kate started walking again he was at his usual distance. Not quite as close as he had been but he had never put himself at the usual distance between friends. She rolled her eyes and had another sip of coffee as she talked to Ryan and Esposito about the victim and possible reason behind his murder. It turned out Alex Kent was a small time smack dealer and one of his clients had been seen with him just a few minutes before the shot was heard. Kyle Marks was now missing.

"Ok let's see if we can't find Marks and also put feelers out to see if any of Kent's other clients or former clients had a beef." Kate told them. Ryan and Esposito nodded and Kate and Castle made their way back to Kate's car to head back to the precinct. When Kate had pulled into the early afternoon traffic, Castle started to talk.

"I'm sorry about that, I will keep my distance from now on but it's not my fault you used your cherry shampoo again."

He smiled at her, she glanced at him before she deadpanned, "Who said it was cherry _shampoo_?" she asked, stressing the word shampoo. Castle groaned as his mind automatically moved to Kate cherry bodywash instead.

"That's just mean Kate." He admonished as Kate laughed, "So after you left, Alexis wanted to know if you wanted to come for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah that would be nice." She accepted. There was short pause before Castle broached the next topic. "So Callum told me about your dodge of the reporters this morning, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault Castle, I'll just have to use that staff entrance if there's more press camped out there this evening." She told him reassuringly, "I might want to keep our relationship out of the papers for as long as I can but I won't be not seeing you."

"That's a double negative Detective." Castle grinned and Kate rolled her eyes again for what she knew would be several times that day.

They made small talk about the case after this and when they got back to the precinct Kate started to put together the murder board whilst Castle looked on. She could feel his stare and her cheeks flushed at the intensity of his attention, as well as the stares from the other Detectives and officers that were in the room.

"Hey Castle?" she called, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Yes Detective," he asked in a teasing tone.

"Can you do another coffee run? I'm running low on caffeine." She asked, glancing at him. Castle wasn't stupid, he realised what he was doing the minute she had called his name, he nodded guiltily and walked into the break room. A few seconds later Kate followed and shut the door behind her.

"Any chance you'd buy that I was thinking so hard about the chapter of the new Nikki Heat book that I didn't even notice where I was staring?" he asked hopefully as she walked over to him.

"It's not you, you always stare," she told him, "It's them!" she exclaimed, waving her hand to indicate the people outside the break room. Castle looked out at the people Kate was glaring as to see them hurry back to their work. He smiled as he turned back to look at her.

"Kate," he said softly, causing all her attention to swing back to him, "If we weren't at the precinct I'd give them a reason to stare."

Kate blushed prettily as this and then smirked at him, "We already scarred your daughter this morning, let's not settle the pool about us just yet."

"_You_ know about the pool?" he asked a little surprised.

"Of course I do Castle, there's not much that happens in this place that I don't know about." She told him as she took the coffee that just finished spluttering out of the machine, neglecting to mention that Lanie had told her.

"Noted." Castle told her as he placed another cup under the machine for his own cup and watched as she made her way over the door, his eyes straying downwards.

"Eye's up top Castle." She called laughingly over her shoulder before opening the door and walking out. Castle just grinned and turned back to the coffee machine.

A.N. I might have to start reducing updates to one a day otherwise I'm gonna run out of story and you'll have to wait a few days lol but it depends how much I write tomorrow :) please review :)


	9. Chapter 9

A.N. I think I've almost finished writing the story now so I'll be able to keep updating at the current rate ... hopefully lol. Unless I have another idea on what to add onto the end of this ;)

Chapter Nine - Speculation

When he walked back out of the break room, Kate had disappeared but Ryan and Esposito had arrived and were writing someone information on the murder board that Kate had started. As he wandered over, Ryan looked up and nudged Esposito who also looked up, both with identical evil grins.

"Yo Castle, great party last night." Esposito told him.

"Thanks boys, it was pretty awesome wasn't it?" he agreed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So what did Beckett do to you last night?" Ryan asked causing Castle to spit out his coffee and spray it all over the two men in front of him.

"What?" he coughed out and Ryan and Esposito looked at their shirts with a disgusted face.

"She came to talk to you last night, and after that she left," Esposito clarified, "What did she say to you?"

"Oh, just that ... erm ..." Castle started struggling to come up with something whilst the back of his throat stung. Kate arrived just as he was trying to come up with an explanation. She took one look at the scene and rolled her eyes.

"What's going on with you guys?" she asked, taking in Esposito and Ryan's coffee flecked shirts.

"Castle choked on his coffee." Ryan explained.

"And he was just telling us what you two talked about last night." Esposito continued.

Kate looked sharply at Castle before glancing at Ryan and Esposito and then back to the report she had in her hands.

"Nothing much," she said as she sat down at her desk, "Have you had any luck with Kent's client list?" she asked, changing the topic.

"I've got a friend in Narcotics running the info now." Ryan replied.

"Great and Marks?" she asked.

"Nothing yet, I've got some uniforms combing the spots he normally goes to, we spoke to his mother who was very helpful. Apparently her youngest son is a big disappointment, her closing words were a request to lock him up and throw away the key." Esposito told her.

"Nice Mother," Kate commented, sarcastically. Her cell phone beeped indicating an incoming text message. She looked at her phone as Esposito looked at Castle with a knowing look, making him squirm slightly. "That's Lanie, she's found something with the body," Kate said standing up and grabbing her jacket from the back of the chair. "You coming with Castle?" she asked, already knowing the answer as she could see the looks Esposito was giving her out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes!" he exclaimed putting his cup down next to hers on her desk, following her towards the elevator before turning to face Ryan and Esposito whilst walking backwards to keep up with Kate. "Sorry about your shirts, I'll buy you some new ones!"

When they stood in the elevator and the doors shut, Kate started laughing. "What did they say to cause you to spit your coffee all over them?" she asked.

"They asked me what you did to me, I can't help it if my mind automatically went to dirtier places after what you _did_ do to me last night." He smirked and moved closer to her. Kate didn't back down, instead she pulled him closer and kissed him hungrily. "That isn't playing fair, you know the minute this elevator stops you're gonna make me go back to keeping my distance." He sulked.

"That pretty much sums it up," she grinned as she kissed him again before moving over to the elevator doors as it came to stop and opened. Castle walked after her muttering about cruel and unusual punishments.

Lanie smiled as she looked up and saw Kate and Castle walk in.

"Have you two read the paper this morning?" she asked. Kate looked at Lanie in confusion but Castle groaned.

"What did they say?" he asked. Lanie pointed to the rolled up paper on her desk and he opened it and started to read aloud. "_Richard Castle has been shadowing New York's finest, Detective Kate Beckett, for the better part of the last two years and despite the rumours they have both adamantly denied a relationship beyond professional. Castle created new character Nikki Heat on Beckett and even dedicated the first novel, Heat Wave, to the Detective, hailing her as 'extraordinary'. It seems that the charms of Beckett have induced the author to dedicate his second Nikki Heat book to 'My muse, my inspiration, my partner' which is undeniably Beckett as he has stated several times that she is his muse. Furthermore Castle went on to comment, 'the summer was lifeless and the fall was too slow to arrive.' This has caused a mass of speculation in media circles and Castle's legion of fans that there may be more to the relationship than either party is willing to declare since the book was revealed for the first time at its launch party last night. Whatever caused this summer to be 'lifeless' may have been a blessing in disguise for the duo ..."_

There was silence as Castle trailed off. Beckett sighed impatiently.

"Do these people have nothing better to speculate about?" she asked. Lanie and Castle looked at each other before they both answer "No," at the same time.

"Well they are just rumours right?" Lanie asked slyly.

There was a slight pause until Kate replied, "Right, exactly."

"Hm hum," Lanie said sarcastically before she walked over to the body and showed them the bruising she had found. "This bruising on his shoulders happened perimortem. From the shape and size of the bruising on both shoulders and arms I'd say someone was holding him by his arm and shoulder, most likely in the kneeling position from the fresh abrasions to his knees. Also the angle of the bullet tract suggests he was either shot by someone much taller than he was, and being 6foot 2 himself the person would have to be 8 feet tall, or he was shot whilst he was knelt down."

"He was executed," Castle theorised, "Now what could a low level smack dealer possibly have done to deserve such an end?" he asked looking at Kate.

"He might have been stepping on someone else's turf," Kate replied thoughtfully, "Hopefully Ryan will come through with that information."

"I also found evidence of several faded bruises on his face and chest," Lanie continued, "I'd say he took a good beating about 10 days ago.

"So Kent here decides to step up his own small time operation by extending his area and product line only to step on the toes of a bigger fish. Said fish sends his a couple of goons to rough the guy up ... only Kent didn't intimidate easily and kept selling. Maybe he finally sold to the wrong person and the big fish sends his right hand to solve the problem, right hand guy has his goons bring Kent to his knees, Kent realises that this is serious and starts struggling which is how he gets the bruising to his shoulders and BANG!" Castle mimes shouting a gun.

"Ok but I don't get how Marks factors into this," Kate answered, "Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time or did he have something to do with it and got scared?"

"Could be both, maybe he was just there and because the big fish used to supply for him he was bullied into helping and ..."

"Then ran away scared." Kate finished, "Or maybe he was bait and ..."

"They told him to get Kent there under the pretence of scoring a hit!" Castle said exuberantly.

"Do you guys even realise you do that anymore?" Lanie asked and sighed as she went back to her paperwork, "And you two wonder where all these rumours come from?"

A.N. I'm sorry if the case stuff doesn't make sense or seems too rushed. The focus of this story is definitely more on the Kate/Rick relationship and how those around them view/react to it but I needed them to have a case so I could continue with what I wanted to write without there being huge chunks of unaccounted for time. Please review :)


	10. Chapter 10

A.N. So I wasn't going to post this until tomorrow afternoon but the realised how busy I'm going to be at work tomorrow so this is likely the last chapter for 24 hours ... you can blame the company I work for and if you knew which company you'd agree no matter what country you live in lol but not for much longer since I start my new job on the 29th! Yay! But enougth meaningless chatter, here's chapter ten :)

Chapter Ten – The Mother

After leaving the morgue, they got back into the elevator to go back up to the fifth floor. The doors had barely shut before Castle took her hand in his to pull her to face him.

"I'm sorry about the tabloids," he told her, smiling crookedly.

"Really Castle, it's ok," she smiled back squeezing his hand, "I might have been more annoyed about it before but now I know that they are actually reporting the truth so I can't really get angry about that ... Well their version of the truth and until I'm ready we'll just have to let them speculate about it I guess."

Castle pulled her in for a warm hug, "And I don't care how long it takes as long as we get to continue having our private dates." He pulled back and wriggled his eyebrows at her causing her to hit his arm. "Hey!" he exclaimed, stepping back and rubbing his arm in the spot she had hit.

"Aww do you want me to kiss it better Ricky," she laughed.

"I wouldn't say no to that Kate," he grinned and pulled her into a heated kiss which Kate broke after a few seconds.

"_Way_ too much for the precinct." She gasped as she stepped away but Castle walked with her, effectively trapping her against the elevator wall.

"Oh and that kiss before was just right?" he whispered into her ear. Kate looked a little guilty but happily shrugged at him before gently placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing him back easily. Castle opened his mouth to comment further but the discussion on the subject was stalled by the opening of the elevator doors so they both walked back to Kate's desk. Ryan was waiting for her with a list of suspected clients of Kent and just as they were running background checks on them.

The list was long and by five o'clock they still didn't have a suspect more promising than Kyle Marks so when Ryan and Esposito went into the break room to get coffee Kate agreed to meet Castle back at his loft at about seven for dinner. He quietly asked if she would spend the night so when she went home that evening, she put together another change of clothes and other necessities so she could leave her other bag in the trunk of the car before heading over to Castle's. When she arrived, she looked at the entrance and sighed as she realised that there were still some reporters camped out at the entrance. There weren't as many as that morning but she had to give them credit for their perseverance. She parked where she had parked the evening before and grabbed her bag before making her way to the side entrance. She pulled it open and walked through, smiling at George as she passed him on her way to the elevator.

"Callum told me you might be using that entrance," he smiled knowingly, "Got another case to discuss Detective?" he teased.

"Something like that George." Kate grinned back, undeterred that her fib from the previous night had so obviously been discovered. George just laughed as he waved her away.

"Go on, lover boy is waiting." He winked and she stepped into the elevator. When she knocked on the door it was opened by Alexis.

"Kate," she greeted, "Come on in." She invited, she took Kate's bag despite her protests and placed it at the foot of the stairs before ushering her into the kitchen where Castle and Martha were stood talking with a glass of wine each.

"Kate!" Martha said warmly, "What an unexpected surprise." To this Kate looked at Castle who had a smirk on his face. Knowing he had something planned, she braced herself for whatever it was.

"Actually Mother, I invited Kate over for dinner," he told his Mother, not taking his eyes off Kate as he walked around the kitchen island with a third glass of wine. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and handed her the glass of wine. "Hey." He smiled, his gaze not wavering from hers, Kate found herself smiling back and returning the greeting but both of them jumped at the squeal Martha let out.

"Oh Richard you finally told her!" she exclaimed happily, jumping up to place a congratulatory kiss to her sons cheek and pull Kate into a tight hug. "Honestly watching you two dance around each other has been exhausting! I couldn't be happier, this is wonderful!" She walked over to Alexis and pulled her into a side hug as Castle took Kate's jacket and she sipped her wine.

"Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes." Alexis smiled.

"Great!" Castle said, "That gives me just enough time to give you your present Kate."

"Castle, a present? ... what have you ...?" she started only to be cut off as Castle started pulling her to his office.

"We'll be back in a moment ladies." He called to his Mother and Alexis.

The minute they were out of earshot Martha turned to her granddaughter and smiled. "If your Father doesn't marry that woman and _stay_ married to her, he's a fool!"

"I second that." Alexis grinned cheekily as she went to check on dinner.

A.N. So the end of the story as I originally envisioned is a couple of months in the future so I think I'm gonna end this one in the next few chapters and completely finish it in a new story ... what do you guys think? Please review :)


	11. Chapter 11

A.N. So here's the next chapter!

Chapter Eleven – The Sweetest Thing

In Castle's office, he walked her over to his desk and pulled open his drawer. "Castle you really don't have to buy me things." Kate admonished.

"I know and as much as you can be guaranteed I _will_ be buying you things probably starting with that tripped out SUV I was talking about, I haven't actually bought you anything today but I wanted you to have this." He pulled out a large box from the side of his desk and handed it to her, she looked at him a little puzzled but opened it only to have her confusion grow. "Every time I write a book I get sent the first copy off the presses and but I wanted you to have these." She looked back into the box to see a copy of 'Heat Wave' and 'Naked Heat' side by side. He pulled the copy of 'Naked Heat' out of the box and hand it to her, "Open it," he encouraged softly. On the dedication page he had written a short message.

"_Dear Kate, you hold my future in your hands. I love you, Rick_."

"I mean that both literally and metaphorically Kate, writing Nikki is ten times more entertaining than Derrick ever was and you make it that fun. I thought it was only right that you should have the first copies." He shrugged and then continued, "And I always want you to be in my life." He looked at her, a little unsure at how she was going to react.

"Rick ... this is probably the sweetest thing you've ever done for me." She smiled at him and placed the book back in its box next to the copy of 'Heat Wave' and put it on the table. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Even sweeter than the dedication?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded, "This is private, just between you and me." She kissed him and pulled away, a grin taking over her face. "I love that I can just kiss you whenever I want now."

"Ditto." Castle smirked before pulling her back into another kiss. A few minutes later they were still caught up in each other when there was a knock on the door frame.

"Richard darling, put the poor woman down, Alexis says dinner is ready now." Martha told them, laughing at the blush on Kate's face before walking into the kitchen.

"You know, I've never seen you blush so much as you have in the last twenty four hours." Castle noted. Kate stepped away from his and started walking with him back towards the kitchen.

"Quiet Castle," she laughed, pushing his arm slightly causing his path to swerve and them both to laugh.

Dinner was full of fun and laughter as Kate regaled them all with some of Castle's most outrageous theories. "I swear Castle thinks every murder involves the CIA." Kate laughed and squeezed his hand as he sulked over the fact all three women in his life were laughing at him.

"Well I still maintain that one day I _will_ be right." He reasoned. There was a lull in conversation as everyone ate or drank something until Alexis spoke up again.

"Kate, can I just ask ... why do you still call my Dad Castle?" she asked, "I mean you two are together now and all, isn't that a bit strange to call him Castle still?"

Kate looked at Castle before she answered, "Well I do call him Rick but usually when we're away from the precinct like at times like this but I've known him as just Castle for two years. It's gonna be a little hard to break that habit."

Alexis nodded, satisfied with this answer. "I take it you guys are keeping this quiet for a while." Alexis noted, much more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I mean everyone already thinks we're together and it was bad enough avoiding the press this morning and the fans were wanting me to sign his book the other night ... I'm just not used to that, I prefer to keep my personal life private." She replied with a crooked smile.

Martha nodded, "Taking some time to just be yourself is a good idea but it won't stay private forever Kate, my dear."

"Especially if Dad keeps writing dedications like that in his books." Alexis grinned, causing them all to laugh.

"Yes Richard, you might as well have done a billboard in Times Square!" Martha exclaimed.

"Yes well I've never been good with subtle Mother, you know that." He said, "Besides it worked, didn't it?" he smiled looking at Kate.

"Actually we agreed to talk about a relationship before I read the dedication." Kate told him.

"Well then it must have been my natural charm." He waggled his eyebrows. To this Kate just rolled her eyes and turned back to Alexis.

"I'm gonna need your help with tips on how to put up with him." She joked.

"Of course." Alexis replied seriously only to giggle at her Dad's outraged look. "We're just joking Dad."

It didn't take long for Alexis to suggest a movie night, so they all sat down in front of the TV to watch Alexis' choice of 'The Proposal'. Later that evening they started to watch the second movie of the night ('Scream') when Alexis started yawning and not long after started nodding onto Kate's shoulder.

"Ok I'm heading to bed." Alexis finally said as her head had snapped up for the tenth time, "Night Dad." She said and she leant down to kiss her Dad's cheek before moving over to Kate to repeat the action. "Night Kate." She yawned as she stood and walked over to the staircase and up out of sight.

"Does she always make sure she goes to bed at the right time?" Kate asked as she looked at her watch and realised the time.

"Yes, I'm not sure where she gets that from, not from me and certainly not from her Mother." Castle smiled as he looked from the stairs and back to Kate. "Do you want more wine?" he asked. Kate shook her head, two glasses when she had to be up tomorrow morning was enough for her. She moved closer to Rick and leaned into his side, pulling her legs up onto the sofa beside her. She sighed in contentment as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The next thing she knew, she was being gently woken up by Rick. "Come on sleepy head, let's get you to bed." He offered his hand to her to help her off the sofa.

"Thanks Rick." She said before yawning widely. She grabbed her bag on the way up the stairs and changed into her baggy t-shirt and jogging pants whilst she was brushing her teeth in his bathroom. When she crawled into Rick's bed she clutched one of his pillows and smiled sleepily. IT smelled like him, she then shook that thought from her head as it was far too girly a thought for her. She felt the weight of the bed shift as Rick settled next to her. She opened one of her eyes to look at him.

"Hey." He smiled at her. Kate smiled back and let go of the pillow to rest her head on his chest instead, entangling their limbs as they moved closer together, like it was something they had always done. They lay in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Kate spoke.

"I want to tell Lanie tomorrow." She whispered.

"Yeah?" Rick asked, trying not to let the excitement into his tone.

"Yeah, she'll be so mad if I don't tell her soon," she sighed, "But she probably already knows after that time of death she gave us."

"I was wondering about that." Rick said, "I saw the report she sent up and it was a much wider time of death."

"That was just her way of letting me know she was onto us." She replied and then she yawned again.

"Night Kate," Rick said and kissed her softly, "Sweet dreams."

"You too." She mumbled before she fell asleep. Rick grinned at how comfortable she was with him.

"I love you." He whispered before he too closed his eyes.

A.N. I have to just say thank you to GhostWriterLost because their review from earlier on in the story made the 'Times Square billboard' thing stick in my head so I had to use it :) I hope you liked this chapter, there's one more for this story and then, hopefully on Monday, I'll have the sequel of sorts, to post, please review :)


	12. Chapter 12

A.N. Sorry guys, I had meant to post this before X-Factor but best laid plans and all so this is the last chapter, but fear not! I will be back in a few days with the sequel :)

Chapter Twelve – A Key and a Revelation

The next morning Kate woke up first again but this morning she didn't panic. Instead she gently eased her way out of Rick's embrace and kissed him softly before heading to the shower. Ten minutes later she walked back into the bedroom to find Rick awake and reading a book in bed. He smiled as she came in.

"Good morning," he greeted, "Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Kate smiled at him before she leaned down to give him a proper kiss good morning. Rick didn't waste this moment and pulled her back down onto the bed, surprised at the giggle that came from Kate.

"Did you just giggle?" he grinned, finding this fact incredibly amusing.

"No!" she exclaimed quickly getting to her feet and smoothing down her clothes, "It was more of a chuckle."

"Right." Rick grinned, disbelievingly.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Do you think Alexis would let me borrow her hair dryer?" she asked.

"I have no doubt, you know which one is her room." He said as he got out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom. "Why don't you go and asked her whilst I make myself gorgeous for my Detective girlfriend."

"Good because you need a shave!" Kate called as he closed the door. She could hear him laughing at this and she smiled as she made her way down the corridor to Alexis' bedroom. She knocked on the door and a few seconds later it opened to said girl.

"Morning Kate, what can I do for you?" she asked as she walked back into the room, leaving the door open as a clear indication that Kate could in. She went back to packing her books as Kate replied.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your hair dryer?" she asked.

"Sure no problem, it's on the desk there." She pointed out. "Just make sure my Dad doesn't get hold of this one. I had to buy a new one after he decided to use it to inflate the ball pool he decided to get for my 14th birthday but he burnt out the motor and I like this hair dryer."

Kate laughed at that, "You have my word." She grinned before thanking Alexis and making her way back to Rick's room with the hair dryer.

She started drying her hair and as she did she had an excellent view of Rick getting dressed as he came out of the bathroom and walked over to his wardrobes. When she was satisfied with her hair she turned the hair dryer off and unplugged it ready to take back to Alexis. She turned around to face Rick who was tying the laces on his shoes.

"Can you stay again tonight?" he asked, looking hopefully at her.

"Yes," she smiled at him, "That'd be great." Kate felt giddy. They had not once felt uncomfortable or awkward around each other since the change in their relationship and he was actually encouraging her to stay more often.

"Ok, fantastic!" he smiled, "Now before I give you this I don't want you to freak out, it's just so you can let yourself in if you ever arrive before any of us or so you don't have to wait whilst we open the door." He held up a key. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Isn't that ..." she cleared her throat, "Isn't that a little soon?" she asked.

He walked over to her and knelt down in front of her. "Kate I am not asking you to move in, or get married or anything like that, I just want to know that if I'm late because of a signing or a meeting with my agent that you won't be waiting in the corridor until someone gets home."

"I ..." Kate started.

"If you don't want to use it when we're all home then I understand but please just ..." Rick interrupted. Kate started to smile as he rambled and interrupted him the best way she knew how. She kissed him.

"Thank you Rick." She said as she took the key. "But it's only for emergencies." She stressed. Rick nodded unable to wipe the grin off his face.

When they got to the precinct and stepped into the elevator, Kate pushed the button to go down to the morgue rather than up to the homicide floor.

"Pulling off the band aid?" Rick asked.

"Come on now Castle, don't sell yourself short ... it's more like a wax strip." She smirked as Castle winced at the imagery. The doors opened and they walked in silence down to Lanie's office. "Ready?" she asked Castle.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked and they grinned at each other before opening the door and walking inside. Only to find Lanie pressed up to the wall by Esposito, who was kissing her senseless.

"Kate!" she exclaimed as she saw their arrival and slack jawed expressions. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"What am I doing here?" Kate asked, a grin making its way onto her face, "That's not the interesting question, the question is ..."

"What are _you _two doing here?" Castle finished as he smirked at Esposito who was trying to wipe the lipstick off his mouth.

"Castle, you and Beckett here can hardly talk after I had to make a certain CCTV tape disappear from yesterday's security camera in the elevator!" he challenged with a smug smile as the smiles dropped from Kate and Castle's faces and they were rendered speechless. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

When Kate finally found her voice, she looked over at Lanie and gave her a half smile, "That's why I'm here this morning." She admitted sheepishly, "We were coming to tell you."

"And what about me and Ryan?" Esposito asked.

"You were next on the list." Kate told him, rolling her eyes at how the boys always seemed to love being the centre of the gossip.

"Well I for one can't understand what took you guys so long." Lanie smiled.

"Thanks Lanie, but no asking about our relationship in front of anyone, we're trying to keep it quiet." She told her friend.

"Girl that won't last long, especially not with you two making out like teenagers in the elevator." She said.

"How did you ..." Kate started to asked.

"Oh please! Some gossip that juicy and Javi didn't show me?" she answered. Kate and Castle looked at each other and shrugged. After a few more minutes of conversation Kate, Castle and Esposito all made their way up to the homicide floor and to their desks.

"Hey Esposito?" Kate called and continued as he turned to look at her, "Fill Ryan in would you?" she asked.

Esposito smiled, "Sure thing," he agreed, "Hey Ryan, come on man we've got some stuff to do!" he yelled at his partner who grabbed his jacket and followed him to the elevator, waving at Kate and Castle as he passed.

As they were waiting at the elevator, the doors opened and two uniforms walked out holding a swearing man by the arms.

"Let go of me man!" he yelled. "I didn't go near any bastard dealer!"

They walked passed Ryan and Esposito, w ho quickly walked into the elevator, glad to be getting away from the man. The officers walked over to Kate.

"Detective Beckett, this is Kyle Marks." One of the officers told her.

"Thanks Harris, put him in interrogation one for me will you?" Kate nodded.

"Sure thing." And with that they hauled him into the room closing the door behind them.

Kate turned to Castle. "Shall we?" she asked.

"We shall." Castle replied, gesturing for Kate to lead the way.

The End.

A.N. So ... what do you think? :) Please review


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